Increasing My Networking Skills - Essay Example

 My personal goals:

One of the areas I plan to resolve by the end of the module is to increase my assertiveness during group tasks, and by extension, increase my assertiveness in my day-to-day life. I want to be able to express myself whenever I want to, and not allow others to direct me. I hope to become more confident in the expression of my views and opinions. I also hope to improve my interpersonal communication skills, particularly my listening skills, so that I am able to avoid internal distractions. Improving my ability to listen will greatly improve my competency in other areas of my life such as other classes. I am further hoping to increase my networking skills to enable me to relate better with others and to stay informed in advance.

How I will achieve them

The way I will achieve these goals is by trusting myself more and not holding back when I feel I need to express myself. To develop my assertiveness, I will challenge myself by pursuing risk. To avoid being directed by others, I will have to train myself to be stronger and to stand my ground. This will also allow me to express my opinion more confidently. To avoid internal distractions, I will train myself to focus more on the subject and less on the contextual emotions at play. The risks I will pursue will include taking a more proactive role, not only in groups but also in classes. This will require and also allow me to push my limits. To improve my networks, I will build a better rapport with group members. I will engage with them at a personal level and establish contacts with them.

Barriers to Achieving My Goals:

I am familiar with some of the barriers that I will face that will make it difficult for me to achieve my goals. I am influenced and held back. I tend to become distracted easily and this will interfere with my listening skills. Low levels of confidence in myself will bar my assertive endeavors and my desire to network. The barrier to developing self-confidence is in turn fear of being judged.

The Way I will overcome them:

To overcome being influenced, I will have to assess what caused me to be influenced or held back and prepare myself for similar scenarios in the future. I will need to improve my self-esteem and overcome other barriers to self-confidence by training myself to pay less attention to judgment by others. Improving my self-confidence will then allow me to become more assertive and form more networks. To overcome distractions during listening, I plan to train myself to pay attention first during small forums and increase the size of progress. I also plan to eliminate distractions by removing them and reintroducing them one at a time. Moreover, since the barriers are interlinked, overcoming one means that it will be easier to overcome the next.

I will know I have achieved my goals when?

I will know that I have become more assertive when I can confidently express myself and my opinions and ignore what others may have wanted me to say. I will know that I have improved my listening skills when I can recall what was said to me and in the context in which it was intended. I will know that I have been able to create social networks when events in the group become less surprising and when I know in advance what is going to happen. All these goals are ongoing goals that will need to be evaluated and updated along the way.